Ep.27 Poison Arrow

The Chicken Mind Nuggets's Podcast

Chicken Mind Nuggets.

Hosted by Wifey

Chickenmindnuggets.com

[e-mail]

@mindchicken

References for this episode

Timber Hawkeye

Introduction music graciously provided by

Music from https://filmmusic.io
"Thinking Music" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Show script: (may differ slightly from spoken word)

I recently had a 1:1 session with Timber Hawkeye. The burning question in my mind for the past number of years is: how can karma explain the horrible things going on in this world like slaughter houses, poverty, human trafficking, and sexual slavery? His answer, to put it in the least, enlightened me.

First of all let me preface this by saying that I grew up without religion. My father’s side was one religion and my mothers was another. We combined some traditions from both, for instance it was completely normal to sit on Santa’s lap, eat curry, and play dreidel all in the same week. I realized that shit was weird later on in life, but despite the massive amount of misdirection my parents gave me, I am grateful for the straight pointing arrow towards the choose your own fate path. They raised my sister and I without religion so we can find what works for us. Over the years, I have pulled from several different perspectives and my feelings and values shift as I welcome certain ones in and leave certain ones out. I tend to pull from 4 main sources of thought – Taoism, Buddhism, Stoicism, and Humanistic Judaism. I don’t fully commit to one or the other, I sort of lay on my back and reach my arms and legs out as if I was at the four corners monument and I’m trying to put a limb in each state. It’s not exhausting or complicated, instead it’s fluent, unhinged, mosaic, and deeply personal.

So I started off the conversation by stating that I have strong belief’s in Buddhism and Timber lovingly commented that holding on strongly is a rigid practice. He’s right. Check off the box for “remember self- fix the strong phrases, because this has not done you any good before lol.” He went on to explain that my question is impossible to answer, and there are Buddhists and others out there who have been working on and pondering this question for ever and I AM TRYING TO FIND THE ANSWER?!

Phew…………boy was he right. But would I like to know? Hell yes, because I’m a digger, and I want to keep finding the truth and why things are the way they are, but he turned me around to look at a different lens instead:

“We can’t figure out the answers to things there are no answers to, but we can choose to not be a part of something harmful. You don’t want to participate in animal abuse, but if you can save and cherish one life, you are part of the solution. Being at peace is part of the solution because you are not contributing to anger. You can do your part to change the world from your end, but this reminds me of the story of the poison arrow. A man was shot by a poison arrow and the poison started to flow into his veins and he was getting weak and dizzy. The villagers came to help him and take the arrow out. The man shouted, “don’t you take this arrow out! I need to know who did this, the make, the model, the composition of the arrow tip, the ratio of the poison…..” Basically, as he was dying from his own demise the man neglected to remove the one thing from him that was killing him. Does it matter who made the arrow when you are dying from it being inside you?

I was stunned. I felt an instant shift, as if he physically moved my body from one telescope to the next and said, “here, look at this star instead.”

I had a poison arrow I was trying to solve and I let the poison rip through my body as I was trying to deconstruct the situation with the arrow.

What does this mean for my future thinking and how I view the world? Well, I fell in love again. Not with Timber, but with the present moment of being with my cat Elsie, and how I cherish her presence and how I am grateful I got to rescue her. I fell in love with the birds who come to feed outside my window and the occasional cat who jumps up and eats one, but it’s the cycle of life. I fell in love with appreciating the quiet space I have for myself and bringing awareness into the mindfulness I have been lacking due to my endless problem solving. I brough love back to my body and thanked it for carrying this crazy spirit for so many years. I really, became loved.

Enlightenment isn’t a one-time thing that you achieve or you don’t and you only get there by meditating and eating rice for 50 years. Enlightenment is a process, and it is moments throughout your life where you say, “ah ha!” and grow from that experience. Enlightenments are Mind Nuggets you carry with you and sometimes drop off at another’s door step. Enlightenment shows us to ourselves, and we can either clean the mirror off, or smile at the person who is looking back.

If you have enjoyed this podcast, please follow me on twitter @mindchicken, or leave a review on iTunes, listen to anywhere you listen to podcasts, or visit chickenmindnuggets.com